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Sweet Baby Jesus! Maneuvering at 5mph!

shar

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Took our boat out for the first time this weekend! We had a blast on Lake Travis. Moving and maneuvering at speed was easy, and a lot smoother than some prop boats I've been on. HOWEVER, trying to dock this thing had to be pretty comical for anyone watching. Eventually a group of people at the dock felt sorry enough for us and asked us to toss them some rope to pull us in. Please tell me it gets easier with time. Below is a representation of what we probably looked like 😆

105197
 

haknslash

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2kwik4u

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Best Illustration Ever........I love it.

It gets easier with time and practice. LOTS of practice. We used a floating cushion to practice with our first season. If you bonk it, meh, no big deal. Once we got to where we could touch it without moving it, we called it good. Took a few hours of seat time for each of us. I can now place the boat about anywhere I want it and not bonk anything. It's really quite amazing how versatile it is. Wife is getting just as good (she doesn't get as much seat time around the docks as I do)

The wife now comes into pick me up/drop me off at the docks by swinging the stern around and literally backing into the end of the dock. I haven't had to board from the bow all season. She would absolutely OWN that opening you have there in the center of the dock.......she made spaghetti tracks just like your picture the first season.
 

jawsf16

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You don’t need to think. You need to drive. You need speed. You need to go out there, and you need to rev your engine. You need to fire it up. You need to grab ahold of that line between speed and chaos, and you need to wrestle it to the ground like a demon cobra. And then, when the fear rises up in your belly, you use it. And you know that fear is powerful, because it has been there for billions of years. And it is good. And you use it. And you ride it; you ride it like a skeleton horse through the gates of hell, and then you win!



Or practice a bit, using only one motor with short bursts forward and back helps. Slow and steady, wave off if needed. Have dock lines and fenders at the ready.
 

BigAbe75

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Ok, not quite the same topic... but in your pic above, how do you tie on to the dock? That is totally different than anything that I have experience with.

- how do you keep the rear from banging on the dock?
- you can’t be just using 2 lines on the rear corners to keep the front from swaying?

Tks! Always looking to learn something. :)
 

Gym

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Get some fins on that beast. Best thing ever.
 
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tabbibus

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lol. It gets better.
 

Jim Crane

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My brother will come out with me a couple times each summer and when he does, he picks me up from the dock when I am parking the car.

He is supper cautious, and a few weeks ago, he was backing to the dock to get me and just as I stepped on he took off fast because he decided he would move away and try again. Needless to say, I got to get in the boat from in the river that day.
 

Jgorm

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Practice heavy throttle application. It's easily 2-5x more throttle when docking compared to a Stern drive. If you have dual throttle, learn to pivot with the wheel straight and 3k+ rpms one forward, one reverse.
 

Trevor Shipman

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Hahah, too funny! And don’t worry, it gets better. Not only does it get better I think it gets better than trying to maneuver a stern drive.

One of the biggest things I love about a jet boat is docking. Since there really is no “reverse”, from mechanical aspect, I can quickly reverse the boat without having to grind the gears. I can feather back and forth as much as I want and as quickly as I want.

Also, with a stern drive there is 1 speed once it’s in gear, not with a jet boat! You can leave one throttle in “neutral” and move the other throttle forward or half.

You’ll get it down overtime. We’ve all been there. Just be patience and remember never to move faster towards some than than you’re willing to hit it!
 

Dean P

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LOL...sounds like your 1st mod is coming. Get the Cobra Fins. This will take a lot of anxiety (fear, hopelessness and a few choice word from your vocabulary) away. As mentioned, practice makes perfect. It does get better; much better but you'll have to practice.


The first time I tried to dock my 192 I gave up. They kept saying point the bow where you want to go and go (similar to point and shoot). I was frustrated as hell. Soon ordered the Fins and made a world of difference. You'll get it. Good luck!

Welcome to the forum :Welcome:! Lot of good people here to help keep you on the water and your wallet empty. ;)
 

ks9mm

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practice makes it better.. I am also using both engines to steer the boat. I usually need to back in to my dock with good amount of cross wind.. I am getting better at it.
 

S1LV3R4D0

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Practice makes perfect and Cobra steering helps tremendously!!
 

rrmidden

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My brother will come out with me a couple times each summer and when he does, he picks me up from the dock when I am parking the car.

He is supper cautious, and a few weeks ago, he was backing to the dock to get me and just as I stepped on he took off fast because he decided he would move away and try again. Needless to say, I got to get in the boat from in the river that day.
I've almost done that to my wife a few times, but luckily she has very good balance, and knows that I'm going to hit it as soon as I see her stepping on the boat, so she gets in the cockpit real quick like.
 

Shady28

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First summer on the new boat, also 24' and learned a tough lesson or two in wind conditions for steer-ability.

Best two lessons:

- Embrace tapping both right and left engines FRW/Neutral/Reverse at different times. I've learned I'm much better approaching dock situations on Neutral and tapping whatever engine I need in forward or reverse as I approach at slow speeds. Originally I approached everything at the lowest throttle speed with both engines in Forward which was usually 2-3 mph which is all too often too fast for a non moving object like a dock or boat lift.

- Get fins and lateral thrusters. I have Thrust Vector X fins and Lateral thrusters and have been very happy with them at slow speeds.
 
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biglar155

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It will get easier over time.

As mentioned, steering aids help. Don't be too proud. I didn't want fins. My wife - who rarely drives but would need to if something happened to me - couldn't keep the boat going in a straight line without them. I relented and bought Thrust Vectors. The difference is night and day.

I recommend a dedicated trip (or two) for "practice time."

We're too often consumed with the idea that "I'm out here for fun! Woo Hoo!" (which is the end-goal of course) to remember that boating is a skill you must learn and maintain. (There's a reason pilots get rated by TYPE of aircraft and must fly a certain number of hours per year in that aircraft to maintain currency.)

Normally, boating trips involve family, friends, food, swimming, and fun. The boat itself tends to be an afterthought - even though it is present the whole time. The reality is that no one wants to spend an hour on your boat while you practice slow speed maneuvers around marker buoys or approaching piers. (No real "Woo Hoo!" moments while that's going on.)

Spend some time on the water with just you and anyone else that will drive the boat. Take turns performing various maneuvers. Make the boat do goofy things. See how it reacts. Do it in calm water, do it in choppy water with wind. Approach a marker from all directions. See how close you can get. (Be careful - the Coast Guard and DNR don't like you messing with their markers so leave a wide margin of safety.) Make it a competition.

It's the same idea as teaching a kid to drive in the winter by letting them loose in a light-pole-free parking lot. You have to get INTO goofy situations so that you can learn to get OUT of them. Better to do it out on open water than 10' from a pier surrounded by other boats.

As long as you're out there, practice Man Overboard recovery: It uses the same skills maneuvering skills. Toss your throwable flotation device in the water and assign one person to be the spotter (the spotter should never take their eyes off of the "person" in the water while pointing to them the whole time). Now maneuver for pick-up. Consider how you're going to get your kids, your dog, or your uncle "Big Al" back in the boat if they are injured or incapacitated. Consider how they will get YOU back in the boat. (Now that my son is turning 16 and approaching me in weight (he's already surpassed me in height), my janky back and I have to figure out how I'd get him back on board. Thank God for a low swim platform.)

Put in some dedicated time to learn how your vessel behaves and those "Woo Hoo" moments won't be tarnished by too many "Oh S---" moments. If you do put an "apprentice mark" on her, don't worry about it. It can be fixed if it's bad enough. If it's small, then ask yourself this: Do you want a Trailer Queen, or do you want to go boating? ;)
 

Maccam26

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It gets 100% easier within a couple times. Bumping in and out of forward-neutral-forward and steering during the moments under low power and then coast. That's what works for me .. you'll be good shortly, it'll click.
 

J-RAD

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Took our boat out for the first time this weekend! We had a blast on Lake Travis. Moving and maneuvering at speed was easy, and a lot smoother than some prop boats I've been on. HOWEVER, trying to dock this thing had to be pretty comical for anyone watching. Eventually a group of people at the dock felt sorry enough for us and asked us to toss them some rope to pull us in. Please tell me it gets easier with time. Below is a representation of what we probably looked like 😆

View attachment 105197
A couple more curved lines on that drawing and we'd have to flag this NSFW 🍆... 😂😂😂
 
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